Banning plastic bags, will this really help?
A common argument that comes up when the idea of banning plastic shopping bags is raised is that people reuse them for other uses, such as lining their garbage cans or picking up after their dog. If we eliminate these bags, it will just force people to buy garbage can liners or dog waste bags. The Zero Waste study by the Government of South Australia takes on this argument. Here are some points:
- Degradable alternative garbage bags don't always degrade in landfills anyway.
- Lots of people say they use plastic shopping bags to line their garbage cans. Using no liner in the garbage can may require more frequent washing of the garbage can, using water resources.
- Large garbage bags that you purchase will require less frequent emptying than the smaller, plastic shopping bags.
The paper concludes that there is no easy answer to this question. It seems that if you do take the disposable plastic bags from the stores when you shop, then reusing them is a good thing compared to just throwing them out. I suspect that if you decide to invest in a set of reusable bags for shopping, and even if you still continue to buy plastic bags for home use as you need them, you may end up using less plastic overall.
What do you think? Is banning plastic bags a good idea or just a waste of time?













